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tv   Americas News Headquarters  FOX News  December 22, 2012 1:00pm-3:00pm PST

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with a hidden gift of helping 76% say the thing that makes them the most happy is helping others. face-to-face is better. 96% say it makes them feel happier they also say makes them feel healthier. they sleep better. i >> gregg: extreme weather alert. falling snow and heavy winds out there making for a travel nightmare as the christmas rush
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kicks into gear. hello, glad you are with us. i'm gregg jarrett. >> heather: i'm heather childers forks days a powerful storm system has been moving across the country but it is being felt in the northeast now. on top of that a new storm hitting the west coast making for dangerous traveling conditions. airports all across the country leaving passengers stranded. >> you are basically living at this airport yewh i am. >> you like our airport. >> i can't say i like it very much right now. >> so we're stuck here. >> they told us they can't fly us out of here until monday which is two days after our cruise ship leaves. >> heather: maria molina is fox extreme weather center with details. good to see you.
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we're looking at more messy weather but the good news the storm system that was producing blizzard conditions in the midwest and great lakes is finally starting to wind down. it does have strong winds and most of that will wind down through sunday but still lingering snow. it is ts falling indicate heavily around the albany area and you could see one to three inches of snowfall out here. please be careful on the roadways. snow showers and flurries could make it into the boston and new york city area but the i-95 corridor is not expecting any accumulation. enjoy the quiet weather because monday and tuesday forks christmas day, messy weather across portions of the northeast. first out west, this is where we have a storm picking the region right now with strong winds, the lower elevation rain and we're talking feet of snow across the sierra. good news for anyone wanting to do skiing but if you are doing
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traveling out on the roadways on interstate 5 or parents we're talking about delays possible not just for today but even as we head into tomorrow with yet again another area of low pressure. it will be producing more snow, more rain and more strong winds across the west. big issues along west coast but tomorrow, we'll start to see rain in the southeast spreading into tennessee and ohio valley. by monday, christmas eve the northeast dealing with more rain and some of you will be cold enough for snow, temperatures, 31 in cleveland and 32 in chicago and 27 in the city of minneapolis. heading westbound, 70 over in phoenix. >> not so much good news for the travelers unless you are santa and like the snow. people across arkansas and
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missouri could be seeing snow. >> gregg: all right. the country is teetering as you well know on the edge of a fiscal cliff after a breakdown in talks on reaching a deal. president obama and lawmakers have left town taking a few days off for their christmas health. then it's back to the drawing bord and with budgeted talks in disarray, president obama and speaker john boehner are searching for a way to avoid tumbling over. >> we move forward together or we don't move forward at all. so, as we leave town for a few days to be with our families through the holidays. i hope it gives some perspective. >> we propose plans that democrats used to support but now they won't. i don't want taxes to go up. republicans don't want taxes to go up. but we only run the house, democrats continue to run washington. >> gregg: national correspondent
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steve centanni joins us live from washington. >> reporter: d.c. may be some shutting down for christmas but the clock hasn't stopped and fiscal cliff is closer than ever. no deal was reached this week to keep taxes from going up. joan boehner pulled plug on the plan "b" and he says it is now up to the president and g.o.p. is continuing to hammer away at president obama. >> this is the year size of our debt surpassed the our economy. a grim milestone if we don't come to grips to w it. the president's plan to raise tax rates ko could still be as far as eye could see. >> reporter: president obama will return after christmas and work on fiscal issues.
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he believes a comprehensive deal could be reached but he seems to be acknowledging for scaled back plan for cutting taxes on the middle-class. >> even though democrats and republicans are arguing about whether those rates should go up for the wealthiest individuals, all of us, every single one of us agree that tax rates shouldn't go up for the other 98% of americans which includes 97% of small business. >> reporter: president said the middle-class tax cuts achievable in the next ten days and he wants to preserve unemployment benefits that is set to expire for two million americans. >> gregg: steve, thanks. >> heather: what would it mean if lawmakers fail to sfreiblg a deal? 90% of americans would see a tax hike in 2013. 121 million people will be paying more in payroll taxes and families making between
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$40-65,000 a year will pay an extra two grand to the government. >> and tomorrow, john barosso and kent conrad will be sitting down with chris wallace will be talking about the fiscal cliff. check your local listings for the time and channel in your area. >> heather: president obama nominating john kerry to be the next secretary of state. he currently chairs the foreign relations committee. he called on congress to move quickly on the confirmation. peter doocy has the story from washington. >> reporter: a week after susan rice told president obama not to nominate her for secretary of state because she thought the nomination process would be lengthy and costly, the president picks john kerry to make america's top diplomat as the country is leaving two wars
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but facing issues in syria, iranian and north korea. >> john's entire life has prepared him for his role as the son of a foreign service officer. he has a deep respect for the men and women of the state department. the role they play in advancing our interests and values, the risks that they undertake and the sacrifices they make along with their families. >> john mccain congratulated kerry on his nomination and the republican from arizona says he will consider him as secretary of state but did not promise his support. >> my view on whether senator kerry should be secretary of state will not be based on difference of view. we had differences of view going back to 1991 when he said desert storm will fail but it's my view to carry out responsibilities. >> reporter: kerry kept quiet
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and hillary clinton wasn't able to make it to the white house at all. she is still recovering from the concussion that is preventing from testifying about what she knew before after and during the deadly attack in benghazi. >> heather: peter doocy in washington, thanks. >> gregg: last of the newtown school shooting victims has been laid to rest. hour earns attended services for three children. eight days after the gunman killed 26 women and children. since then, more than $2.6 million worth of condolences have poured into the official memorial fund. >> heather: gun control debate heating up in the wake of the connecticut school shooting,
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national rifle association bribing go silence yesterday. critics slamming for suggesting them that armed police officers should be placed in every school in america. rick levanthol has a fair and balanced look at the argument. >> a number of viewers bill clinton made a similar proposal back in april of 2000 one year after the columbine shootings. pop warner football pledged $60 million in a fifth refund of founding for the is cops and schools in program placing hundreds of police officers in hundreds of public school when the assault weapon ban was in place 12 years ago. it hasn't stopped critics slamming the nra calling the group's leader a gun nut and politicians divided along party lines with the thought of more guns in schools. >> i do not believe that those remarks represent anywhere near a significant portion of
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america. >> school safety is a complex issue with no simple no single solution but i believe trained, armed security is one key component among many that can provide the first line of difference as well as the last line of defense. >> reporter: the debate over semi-automatic weapons and high capacity magazines has raged since the shooting at sandy hook. a gallup poll found 53% agreed increasing police presence in schools would be very effective. a third said somewhat effective, 12% said not effective and 42% said banning the sale of automatic weapons and nor an third, 36% said it would not be effective. feel free to weigh in on my page at rick levanthol over the debate of gun rights and greater
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restrictions continues. >> heather: rick, thank you. >> gregg: search for justice in the benghazi, libya terror attacks. a scathing report placing blame squarely for security failures. while sparking new debates we have much closer look at the issue. >> heather: the word no one wants to hear, deadlock, can president obama and lawmakers find a solution before the january 1st deadline. >> gregg: and remarkable recovery just in time for christmas. how a community came together to help the church devastated by hurricane sandy. >> describe the damage. >> it was absolutely devastation. the church was devastated. lower level of church was totally under... [ loud party sounds ]
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>>. >> heather: welcome back. time for a quick check of the headlines, pope benedict granting a christmas pardon for
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to his butler for making controversial comments to a journalist. >> illinois senator mark kirk returning to capitol hill after suffering a stroke. he plans to return to work early next year. and egypt's vice president announcing his resignation as millions of people vote on the country's new constitution. if it passes the controversial constitution would eliminate the position of vice president. >> gregg: growing doubts that the country can avoid the fiscal cliff with just nine days to go before the deadline. negotiations over averting the automatic massive spending cuts and tax hikes seems to have fallen apart and it's not like the nation's capitol is burning the midnight oil. both president obama and lawmakers have packed up for the christmas holidays. any way out of deadlock or is about country about to plunge over the fiscal cliff.
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joining us is susan goodrich. leaders on both sides are being criticized for dysfunction. president obama for being uninvolved and detached in the negotiations and speaker boehner for losing control of his own party. is that a recipe for failure? >> no one can question right now that people aren't doing anything. the president has left, he is hawaii. the house is out of session. the senate is adjourned. they are going to coming back on the 27th. that gives them five days. they have been talking about this fiscal cliff for months. last five days and they have to involves more than a trillion dollars and billions of dollars in tax hikes. how can they get it done? they won't. president on friday gave the all clear for members not to do a big package. he said, look, let's do a
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stopgap. in other words, let's stop everyone from having their taxes go up and do something smaller so on january 1st it's not just this big looming.... >> does that mean the president could offer extend the tax rates for six months and begin negotiating all over again beginning in january, obviously that would be the usual procrastination in washington, is that what you are talking about here? >> i think what will happen, the president will look for ways to gain the most leverage for himself. the conventional wisdom, democrats really gain power if january 1st comes along and everybody's taxes goes up. it brings revenues in the treasury and raises rates on everybody and it puts republicans on intense amount of pressure to gave in to something they didn't want to dave in which is raising tax rates for people earning $250,000 and above. which is pretty much the
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sticking point they are at right now. >> gregg: i don't see the house doing that. look, with $16 trillion in debt and growing every minute, the u.s. governmental is obviously looking for ways to reduce it. that is the whole point in this thing. president is proposing new spending, more spending, has that convinced some people on the hill, that is your beat, that he is either not serious about negotiating or is naive about how economically grave the situation really is? >> the parties are divided in a way that i element never seen in many years covering capitol hill. republicans telling me they were more than willing to talk about a tax rate increase. even some of the most conservative members but what they felt they needed to see was sizable spending cuts and talk of entitlement reform which is major driver of the nation's
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debt but none of that has come forward. with democrats are not even in that level of conversation now. they do not want major cuts and they don't want to touch medicare or social security or medicaid. but republicans say you need to start tackling now. >> gregg: the president has ignored recommendations from his own debt commission. let me move on because the other major topic is really been making headlines, the fallout from the connecticut school shootings in newtown. yesterday one week after the massacre the nra finally broke its silence in a highly contentious news conference in washington. here is the ceo. take a listen? >> politicians pass laws for gun free school zones. they issue press releases bragging about them. they post signs advertising
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them. in doing so they tell every insane killer in america that schools are the safest place to inflict maximum mayhem with minimum risk. >> gregg: susan, even some conservative groups ripped into him and the nra. here is one of them. he delivered a strident rant that made even his generally sensible idea about ramping up security at schools sound idiotic. by refusing to contemplate small changes in existing laws the nra lost it's a chance to get back in the debate other than the terms of villain of the murder of innocents. was that kind of a prsmtd disaster that may have backfired and galvanized support in favor
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of new gun laws? >> it was p.r. disaster but how much is that going to matter on what we see for gun control in the coming years. i don't believe it will be possible to move a bill through congress and pass it that bans any kind of weapons. simply because we have a divided congress and house republicans would be very reluck tenant to take up something like that. there are even democrats that would be reluctant to do that. it's far more likely you are going to see legislation that deals with background checks, clip sizes and maybe dealing with the closing the gun show loophole. there is a low hanging fruit that congress may be able to tackle. it's very very hard for congress to pass gun legislation even in the wake of tragedies like this. lost in the conversation and lost in the criticism is excellent points that they made, you need a multifaceted approach
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to deal with school safety that is going to involve security at school in one way or the other and all the other issues that lead up to people taking guns and causing things like this. >> gregg: you had republicans say for example, chris christie you can't make school an armed camp for kids. republican tom coburn said it's fixing the wrong problem. how many republicans, just again ballpark, share that sentiment? >> there are thousands of public and private schools that have security guards who are armed. i don't think it's an impossibility we would have more security at school. i think a lot of parents would like to see that. i don't think there is any disagreement people want to see a solution now. there are hundreds of millions of guns in circulation right now. the argument that a gun ban is going to help solve the problem right now is, i think that is
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what wayne was trying to say, what are you going to here and now. the schools are under siege. >> gregg: and was bill clinton in the aftermath of columbine that recommended greater school security. we'll see what happens. susan ferrichio, thanks very much. >> heather: a congregation hit hard by super storm sandy has a big christmas wish, to spend the holiday together in their church. right now the community is working hard to make that happen. douglas kennedy has that story. ♪ >> for years the oa sigs christian center has been a gathering place for residents. >> we are very strong knit community and the church has
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been the center of the community for years. >> since we done the church eight years ago, we have done food pantry and children's programs. >> then in october, hurricane sandy hit, shocking lifetime residents like the pastor tim mcintyre. >> we never expected a hurricane like this in new york. the devastation was absolutely incredible. >> midland beach was one of the hardest hit areas in the country. tragically nine residents lost their lives. and dozens of families here still remain homeless. mcintyre saw his church the next day and he didn't think it would ever open its doors again, much less for christmas mass. >> describe the damage? >> it was absolutely devastation. the church was devastated the lower level of the church was totally underwater. >> destruction that quickly
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turned to hope when he begin to get calls in community members volunteering to rebuild. contractors like carmen. >> best thing, any time i can help anybody and in time of need i love to do that. >> reporter: he says the church has once again become a community oasis bringing people in need together. >> you are going to be able to celebrate christmas here? >> yes that is our plan. >> what does that mean to you? >> it means a whole lot. after the suffering and hard work to get us back to this place, we are looking forward to it very much. >> reporter: looking forward to the most meaningful christmas mass he has ever is celebrated. >> heather: thank you. >> gregg: general motors workers are on track for big profit sharing payouts for this year, but are big bonuses a good idea
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for a company that no not along ago was in dire straits. >> heather: still to come a u.s. marine was locked up for months in a notorious mexican prison. his story has a happy ending just in time for christmas. >> we've always said it. mexican system has to prove it. ? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery.
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>>. >> gregg: a florida family's nightmare is finally over. john hammer is back on american soil after spending months inside a mexican prison. he was arrested trying to carry a heirloom shotgun across the border. dominic is live in los angeles with more on the story. >> reporter: i think that image is john hammer chained like a dog to his bunk.
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looking like he was going to languish there for many more months. mexican authorities released home friday. he is driving across the country to his home in florida. they are expected to arrive christmas eve. he spent the night in brownville texas across the border where he was being held. during his detention he received threats from drug cartel members. his mother described to fox news that john was really sick at the moment with a cuff and may need medical attention. john has been a worry, he has ptsd from combat experience in iraq. he is with his family is now helping. >> we have always said it. mexican system has to prove it.
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however, i believe and down in the next phase you will see that there should be modification of some laws because they shouldn't have happened. >> reporter: mexican law is what he is suggesting now. it didn't come without a lot of pressure from state department. it was congresswoman who pressed mexican authorities but she galvanizeed the rest of washington to secure his release. she was the first to speak. >> i say amen and hallelujah and this is wonderful present not for the family but also for the community because the community rallied for john's it will be. >> the mexicans needed a face saving exit. they determined, ye was illegal to bring the weapon in
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but he never committed a crime. >> gregg: dominic, thanks. >> heather: it is year end bonus time and while many corporations are trimming down payouts, general motors appears to be doing the opposite. tens of thousands of gm workers will take up to $7,000 each thanks in part to substantial profits this year. should the company that was in so much trouble be handing out such fat checks? joining us is karl harrington. thanks for joining us, carl. how many people are we talking about specifically receiving these types of bonuses. how much money are we talking about? >> context is important here. we are talking about 48,500 workers receiving bonuses between $5,000 and $7,000. now, remember 26% of general
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motors, about 500 million shares of stock is owned by the united states government which happened as a result of the bailout which the united states taxpayer paid for. so bonuses at the end of the year, i think this is a very sweetheart deal to pay back the unions for their vote for the obama administration. not only are they getting bonuses between $5,000 and $7,000 at the end of the year after being bailed out buss they have no increase in their healthcare cost coverages and their per hourly rated which is approximately $58 per hour is going to stay in tact. this in my opinion is a big sweetheart deal directed by the united states government. >> so the bonus are not performance based or based on seniority. how are they determining these bonuses. >> these are sign on bonuses. i don't understand the issue of sign-on bonus when you join a
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company. you join the company and the network away from another company. these are existing workers getting end of year bonuses that are not based on incentives. we just bailed out this company general motors not too long ago. to hand out bonuses it's very peculiar to me. again the government does own 26% of general motors. i think it's a government directed bonus pool that is a lot of pay back for the unions who voted in administration in this office. >> heather: so on wednesday, gm did receive a christmas boost because u.s. treasury it would reduce its stake in gm by selling a chunk of sales back to the company? >> right. i think that is right. so slowly the united states government is getting out of the shares they own in general motors to make it a publicly traded company subjected to the capitalistic supply and demand marketplace but before they did
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that they signed in a four-year deal in which they are going to pay bonuses of $5,000 to $7,000 per year. i think it was a nice payback and nice deal for the current employees for general motors. >> heather: that will reduce the treasury's stake to about 19%, but let's talk about good news. the company is doing better. gm specifically this year made $5.5 billion in profits, expected to post substantial profit in the fourth quarter. are these bonuses deserved? >> i think without the united states taxpayer this company would not exist. i think that it should take a little while. i want to see more quarters and more consecutive quarters, maybe more consecutive years of top end sales growth, revenue growth and profitability growth before we start handing out bonuses. >> heather: that was my final question. what does it say about the economy overall, do the checks
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underscore financial stability and recovery of the automobile market? >> in my opinion, it does not. it's temporary in nature. like i said, in any company need look out three to five years to see consecutive growth whether it be profitability or revenue growth in order to see the health of the company. general motors got bailed out by the taxpayer. about we hand out bonuses, let's see more healthy consistent growth in both revenues and profitability. >> heather: merry christmas to you. >> gregg: the report is in to the deadly terrorist attack in benghazi. there are several resignations at the department of state, are those responsible for the attack any closer to justice? we'll break it down. the capital one cash rewards card gives you 1% cash back on all purchases, plus a 50% annual bonus. and everyone...but her likes 50% more cash. but i'm upping my game.
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suspect in the deadly benghazi attack. this is coming as the fallout in washington continues. four state department officials resigned following a scathing reported on benghazi where christopher stevens and three our americans were murdered. peter, good to see you. are you astonished none of the murderers have been dealt with and does that go right to the white house? >> i'm outraged by it. it's three plus months. no rest from what i understand, a questioning of somebody. these are people out there that took the lives of four brave americans. it's a travesty. it is wrong. i would like to think that our special ops forces are thinking about to get these people but the signal of weakness it sends that you can kill americans with seeming inpuint and nothing has
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been done about it. >> gregg: only washington can you spend three months in washington only in the end to tell us what we already knew. look, this was a scathing report. it identifys systemic failures in the state department which, of course, is headed by hillary clinton. how much blame does she deserve? >> she should come up and testify, shouldn't she? she was supposed to get this. >> gregg: she has been sick. >> fair enough but the fact of the matter is, i think she is still secretary of state and fair for congress to ask to testify as well on this issue. it is her organization. >> gregg: rank competence, when you read this report. utter competence, they are clueless over the department of state. does that help to explain why the obama administration allegedly tried to cover up the truth of what happened? >> i have been worried there was political as feokt this. this was a terrible tragedy.
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we still need answers, i think, from the department of defense. why wasn't there a military response to this? what about an intelligence failure. why didn't we know about this? i am worried about the spread of al-qaeda in that part of the world, libya and somalia, there is a lot of questions. >> gregg: this is an attack that went on for seven hours. sources tell fox news that those who were under attack pleaded three times with the c.i.a. for help for a rescue, for assistance. they painted a laser target on the attackers and no help came. three times it was refused. we still need to get to the bottom of that, don't we? >> absolutely, like i said we heard a state department about security. we need to know the intelligence committee side and the armed services committee. there is so many questions, it's not just about going after people that may have made
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mistakes but the point is not letting this happen again. >> gregg: the base at italy f-18 is half an hour, not to mentioned the drones that were already overhead. american spectator wrote this, obama's fingerprints is all over this refusal. if no one in the c.i.a. chain of command refused the aid, the failure this is has to be failure is obama's, do you buy that? >> the congress has to find that out for us but it did happen on the president's watch. he did ultimately say it was his responsibility and he could have said that earlier. there is so many questions that we still have so many months after and we don't have the perpetrators. >> gregg: should the president testify? >> that is not common. >> gregg: it's happened before? >> it's possible and rare. these people that work in the white house generally don't come before congress.
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this is what congress is supposed to do oversight. >> gregg: back to the report and the failure to provide the security that had a been requested at benghazi missions. put it up on the screen. eric boswell forced to resign, charlene lamb forced to resign. documents show lamb is the one who denied repeated requests for additional security. they have been forced to resign. scapegoats? >> we may not have seen the end of it. there may be additional people that may have to give up their positions. they made mistakes, honorable thing for them is to step down from their positions. the whole thing is a shame. we need a lessons learned from intelligence to military to state department to make sure it never happens again. congress and american people are deserving of more answers and transparency.
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>> gregg: independent counsel or special prosecutor? >> i leave that up to the congress. >> reporter: peter brookes, great to see you. >> heather: gregg, coming up a 12-year-old girl is behind a foundation with an amazing mission to help the most needy in her community. we will hear from lauren weaver, hi, lauren and her dad. stay tuned. constipated? yeah. mm. some laxatives like dulcolax can cause cramps. but phillips' caplets don't. they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. hi victor! mom? i know you got to go in a minute but this is a real quick me, that's perfect for two! campbell's chunky beef with country vegetables, poured over rice! [ male announcer ] campbell's chunky soup. it fills you up right. poured over rice! try running four.ning a restaurant is hard,
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>>. >> heather: she may be small but she is making a big difference in so many lives. lauren weaver is the heart behind a foundation that helps the homeless in florida. it all started with one simple christmas gift. joining us now lauren and her father, ryan weaver. thank you both for joining us. >> thank you for having us. >> heather:, you decided to start this. this happened when you were seven years old. you were at the park with your mom. tell me what happened that day? >> we were just driving by. i saw a man sitting there. i had seen him many times before. i asked my mom, why is he always there. she told me he probably lived on that bench on and he was homeless. i didn't know what homeless meant. i said what does homeless mean.
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he doesn't have a home, mom said. if he doesn't have a home, where does he sleep and where does he get food? >> heather: it stuck with you. so lauren, you went home and you decided you want to do something about it. you wanted to help this man that you had seen in the park? >> yes. >> what did you do? >> i took $25 of my saved allowance that i was saving. i went to my parents and said, i want to buy this man a christmas present. they were proud of me and they matched the gift. i had $50 for the gift. so we called the source, our ministry and we could fill a box with items. wrap it and deliver it to the man in the park. >> did you do that? did you go back to the park and see him and talk to him? >> yes, i did. he was really shocked that
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someone cared that much about him to give him a christmas present. his reaction made me want to do it every year. >> heather: that is so you a. some you are doing it every year. we are showing pictures about what you shall doing. tell me how far the program has come that day since five years ago. it's called lauren's way and what do you do? >> instead of doing just the boxes, we also do a canned food drive but not only are we helping the source but also helping the homeless center. last year after we delivered some of our leftover items to the source, we don't need these. why don't you take it to the homeless family center. we did and they kind of told bus them. that day i stood face to face with a different image of homelessness. that the moment it became a family. it was a mom and add a dad and little baby and son about the
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age of my little sister. so i knew from that day on, we needed to help the homeless family center. >> heather: a family just likes yours. so how proud of you of her? >> she is is a an inspiration to the entire community. >> heather: lauren, you are a remarkable young woman. what grade are you in? >> i'm in fifth grade. >> heather: you are a very mature young woman and you summed up the meaning of christmas all across the country. thank you so much for joining us. >> heather: lauren's way is the program anybody that wants to help. >> gregg: good for lauren. okay. coming up america getting to a checkup as federal government releases an annual report on the overall health. we got good news and bad news the next hour at america's news
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♪ >> gregg: i'm gregg jarrett, glad you are with us and welcome to a brand new hour inside america's news headquarters. >> heather: i'm heather childers, new reaction to a high stakes news conference after the nra breaks its silence following
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the newtown massacre. what americans think about ideas to prevent another tragedy. >> gregg: more officials at the department of state resign after a blistering government report on the benghazi terror attack, but what of their boss, hillary clinton, does the buck stop only near the top? >> heather: and a white christmas indeed from west to east, heavy snow and strong winds, affecting millions of people, threatening to bring holiday travel to a screeching halt. we have the latest on your forecast. and, also, topping the news for you, the growing debate over gun control. after the nation's top gun lobby group breaks its silence on connecticut's tragic school shooting. sparking a heated battle over what they see as the funds rental right to own a firearm after adam lanza gunned down 26 people at a newtown school. rick leventhal is live for us in new york and the nra not making
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concessions? >> reporter: and some call wayne laperriere the craziest man on earth. he criticized hollywood and videogame makers and suggested that more weapons are needed to protect our schools. >> the only way to stop a monster from killing our kids is to be personally involved and invested in a plan of absolute protection. the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is i good guy with a gun. >> reporter: according to a "gallup poll," 53% agreed increasing police presence at schools could be effective and a third said somewhat effective and 12%, not effective and half of those polled said increasing government spending on mental health screening and treatment would be very effective and a third, somewhat and 14% don't think it would help and when asked banning the selling of assault weapons and, 42%, yes,
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more than a third, 36% said it would not be effective and a "pew research poll" found more men than women want the right to own a gun and nancy lanza and all the adult victims at sandy hook were women. >> heather: critics say the nra needed to do more. >> reporter: true, mostly divided along party lines and democrats arguing the sandy hook shooting is a time it is time to restrict rifles and high capacity magazines in his adam lanza used an ar-15 and, blumehthal, says the nra missed an opportunity. >> the nra statement is shame fully inadequate, calling for more guns and rejecting real action against gun violence. at a defining, historic moment for our nation, demanding courageous leadership, the nra
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declined to step forward as a credible and constructive partner. >> reporter: getting feedback on twitter. most supporting armed and well-trained school guards with one writing, you cannot legislate evil, out of the hearts of men. >> heather: i saw that tweet, and i follow you on twitter as well, an issue that brings a lot of opinions on either side. thank you very much, rick. >> reporter: sure. >> gregg: another day of heart break and mourning as the last of the funerals for the victims of the sandy hook shooting are taking place. 6-year-old emilie parker and, josephine guy and anna marquez greene, the spokeswoman for the funeral director's association, says some of the burials are private. >> heather: we are learning details about the gunman, high school classmates of adam lanza describe him as socially awkward, wearing the same
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clothes every day and keeping to himself without friends or speaking to anyone and they say that he liked to tinker around with computers and electronic gadgets. he killed himself after shooting 20 children an 6 adults at sandy hook elementary school, he earlier killed his mother at their home. >> gregg: the clock is winding down on the fiscal cliff and washington is deadlocked. john boehner failed to get enough support for his own fall back proposal, known as plan b. and with president obama and congress, on vacation, for christmas, longstanding issues remain this hour, unresolved and many asking the question, what does plan c look like? >> unfortunately, the president and senate democrats vowed to reject and veto all of our proposals. while failing to offer responsible solutions of their own. >> president barack obama: averting the middle class tax hike is not a democratic or a
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republican responsibility, with their votes the american people determined governing is a shared responsibility. between both parties. >> gregg: national correspondent steve centanni is live in washington. anything happening at all, before christmas? >> reporter: no. not much, gregg. the house is shut down through christmas and even as we get closer and closer to the fiscal cliff. no deal was reached this week that would keep taxes from going up for everyone at the end of the year and john boehner accusing the president of ducking the central issue in the fiscal stand off. >> what the president offered so far, simply will not do anything to solve our spending problem. and, begin to address or nation's crippling debt and instead he wants more spending and more tax hikes, that will hurt or economy. and refuses to challenge the members of his party to deal with entitlement reform and big issues facing our nation. >> reporter: he suggests the ball is now, basically in the
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democrats' court. gregg. >> gregg: will the president focus at all on this topic, in the coming days? >> reporter: there doesn't appear to be much he can do, he's with his family in hawaii to celebrate christmas and he'll return to washington and landed in honolulu early today for a shorter than usual christmas break, and he says the white house -- at the white house he's a hopeless optimist but is now scaling back his plan, calling for a middle class tax cut now and, still pushing for a compromise. >> president barack obama: in this congress, laws can only pass with support from democrats and republicans and that means nobody gets 100% of what they want. everybody has to give a little bit. in a sensible way. we move forward together, or we don't move forward at all. >> reporter: the president wants to preserve unemployment benefits for 2 million americans which expire at the end of the year. >> gregg: i hope he can get back
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to washington with all of the snow in hawaii! see you later. >> heather: another major headline in our nation's capitol, this week. as the president nominates former presidential candidate, john kerry to become the next secretary of state. while this put an end to a weeks long debate over who might fill the post, peter doocy tells us it is far from a victory lap from the president after having to skip over one of his first choices, and, with hillary clinton still scheduled to testify on the death of four americans in benghazi, libya. >> i week after susan rice told president obama not to nominate her for secretary of state, because she thought the confirmation process would be, quote, lengthy, disruptive and costly, the president picked massachusetts senator john kerry to become america's top diplomat, as the country is leaving two wars, but facing potential issues in syria, iran and north korea. >> president barack obama: in a sense john's entire life prepared him for this role.
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as the son of a foreign service officer, he has a deep respect for the men and women of the state department. the role they play in advancing our interest and values, and, the risks this they undertake, and the sacrifices they make, along with their families. >> reporter: senator john mccain congratulated kerry on his nomination, and the republican from arizona said he looks forward to considering him for secretary of state but did the other promise his support. >> my view on whether secretary kerry should be -- or senator ker should be secretary wore not will not be based on differences of views. we had differences of views going back to 1991 when he said desert storm would fail. but what it will be based on is my view of his ability to carry out his responsibilities. >> reporter: kerry kept quiet yesterday, and, current secretary of state hillary clinton wasn't able to make it to the white house at all. she's recovering from the same concussion that prevented her from testifying to date about what she knew before, after and
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during the deadly raid on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. heather? >> heather: peter doocy reporting, thanks. peter. >> gregg: egypt is sure to get the attention of the next secretary of state, and there is new political turmoil there today. egypt's vice president shown in th this picture on the left resigned and read a statement on state television saying political differences with mohamed morsi, the resignation comes as egyptians still go to the polls, voting in the second and final round of a constitutional refer rent dem, critics accusing him of rushing the constitution through, and many senior advisors have esigned over the past month. >> heather: italy facing a shakeup, the president dis solving parliament but when the prime minister's resignation on friday, he was appointed just 13 months ago, to steer the country away from a greek-style debt
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crisis and his governing coalition lost support after former prime minister silvio berlusconi's party with their support setting the stage for new general election in february. ♪ >> gregg: well, look out, from weather, leaving few areas of the country untouched. heavy snow, and strong winds, threatening to make christmas travel a real chore. the nation's airports now looking like waiting rooms. stranded passengers waiting for cancelled flights to be rescheduled and in green bay, wisconsin, home of the packers, buried in snow, so bad, lambeau field is hiring fans to help shovel it away before tomorrow's game. maria molina live in the fox extremes weather center. >> snow storm in the midwest and great lakes and north east and is now exiting the u.s. and pulling into canada amd winding down as far as intensity and
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snow goes well, have lingering snow showers, in up state new york and portions of vermont and western connecticut and massachusetts. again, overall, the storm system pretty much over and done with, the wind will continue to die down and temperatures, will be chilly behind the storm. midwest, southeast, quiet for today and as we head westbound we still have big time issues out here, we have rain, wind and also, mountain snow, and, feet of snow expected along the s sierra nevada. not good for people traveling on the mountain passes, today and even tomorrow, a prolonged period of time we'll be dealing with unsettled weather out west and the stormy weather will not end as we head into monday, expecting more bad weather as we kick off the week with christmas eve monday and christmas day on tuesday, right around the corner. temperatures are much colder across the midwest, 28 in minneapolis and 31 chicago, new york city, feeling like december, 38° as you head out
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the door an raleigh, north carolina. look at the temperature, 46 degrees, a chilly day for you guys out there. 60s in texas and out west, nothing really too unusual but as we head into the next couple of days, christmas eve, monday, we are going to start to see a return to wet weather, across portions of the southeast. and some of that will start for some of you guys, already on sunday. and the same goes for parts of the ohio valley, tennessee valley and into the northeast and the northeast, temperatures are much colder behind our storm, so, some of that rainfall could actually fall as snow, and, accumulate for some of you. some of you wanting a white christmas we'll get that across portions of the northeast, especially interior sections, new york city, i don't think we will see much accumulating as we head westbound, salt lake city, messy weather an san francisco, l.a., seattle, quieter for christmas eve, that is good news as we head into the nighttime hours and christmas day, stormy weather expected to continue across portions of the southeast and new orleans, a shot, a thunderstorm, new york city,
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unsettled and some of it could be coming down in the form of snow, snow showers early in the morning and westbound, amarillo, texas, looks likes a messy day. 29° and cold, clouds and possibly snow. >> gregg: what about the north pole? will santa get out -- >> 100% chance of snow. >> gregg: 100% chance of snow. with rudolph leading the sleigh, as lon as you can get by the abominable snowman... >> he has it covered. >> gregg: get on, now, check that out. thanks very much. >> by, gregg. >> santa and his helpful elf, maria. a man is reunited with anxious relatives just in time for christmas. john hammer spent months in a notorious mexican prison after being arrested for bringing an antique stanley shotgun across the border from the u.s., but,
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late last night, hammer was finally released. just days after his tearful mother lamented that her son would likely not be home for the holidays. and, dominic denatali has more on the story. >> reporter: heather, 36 hours ago it looked like he was going to languish for many more months in his jail cell, the mexicans, however, surprised absolutely everybody and released him on friday, and, his father is driving across the country to their home in florida and are expected to arrive christmas eve, perfect timing for the holiday, and, during his detention, it was rough, receiving death threats by drug cartel members and enduring inhumane living conditions and a photo of him being chained to his bed was one of the pictures, strongest pictures of 2012 and his mother described as being sick at moment with a cough and they are worried about his health and may delay the journey
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as they drive to florida, and, a big worry, considering he has ptsd from combat experience in iraq and his lawyer, however, saying being with his family, his dad driving him, is helping. >> he's already gone, driving carefully with his dad, and enjoying relaxation, finally. what happened is, jon wasn't in a condition to be taking pictures, i'm sure we understand that. >> reporter: and, he's sleeping in the car, trying to get over the bug he has and, relief from being released at long last and, that did not come about without a lot of pressure from the state department and congress and the congresswoman, who pressed not just the mexican authorities but rallied around the rest in washington and secured his release in many ways, one of the first, to speak after the release was announced. >> i just say amen and hallelujah, a wonderful early christmas presents for not just
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the hammar family but our community. and our community rallied for jon's liberty. >> reporter: heather, it got embarrassing for the mexicans, especially with the u.s. media coverage and really, the state department helped find a way out of this and the mexicans determined, they say, while it was illegal for him to have taken the weapon into the country, he shouldn't have don't he didn't intend to commit a crime and they could let him go. >> heather: good thing we had the media coverage. >> gregg: as lawmakers head home for the holidays, no deal in sight to avoid the fiscal cliff. we'll debate whether it is possible now to come up with a win-win for both parties. now that republicans plan b is off the table. >> heather: santa's elves helping folks with their holiday haul, how one business is making sure people never have to tie their trees to their car again. ♪
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>> heather: welcome back. the edge of the fiscal cliff getting closer and closer as negotiation in the capitol look like they are back to square one, house speaker boehner and president obama still searching for agreement on spending and taxes that both sides can live with. so, is it possible to find a solution in the final ten days before the effects of the fiscal cliff begin? lets bring in our political panel, former economic advisor to president children, former advisor to the senate finance committee and a partner at monument policy group, and president of the new frontier strategy and, executive director of the lieutenant governor's association. >> good work, got that all out. >> heather: is it possible for both sides to bring something passable in the the senate and the house when really, steve centanni said, d.c. is on
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lockdown and everyone left for christmas vacation. what do you think? >> oh, heather, you know, i wish so. i wish we could get a christmas present under the tree for americans, it has been a long year and we deserve it. the reality is the president is in hawaii and the house is gone until the 27th and the senate is as well. and it is likely to be action for restarting the processing and the discussion will be in the senate chamber and as tim knows, having worked there the mechanics of getting the body to work expeditiously are difficult and, frankly, he'll need leader mcconnell and the minority leader, mcconnell's support in order to move a deal in the senate. so, i hate to say it. i'm not terribly optimistic we will not drift off the fiscal cliff here. >> heather: after the rejection of speaker boehner's plan b, by his own party, which included a tax hike for millionaires, what might such a deal look like? and do you think it is possible? >> you know, i agree with bill. i think the action definitely shifts to the senate now. i share the president's optimism
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that he expressed in his friday press conference that i think they can come back and get a deal. look, when you actually look at the numbers on this, they are not far apart as the president said, and they are about $60 billion or so, per year apart and that is something that can be easily overcome, i think the challenge for both parties, is the deal they are talking about, right now is the 2.2, to $2.4 trillion range and when look at what economists say is necessary, they are looking at a deal in the the 3 to $4 trillion range and, so i think the challenge now is going -- can the parties come up with a deal that is big enough so we are not back here having the same debate a year or two from now. >> heather: there's a couple of other scenarios and i want to toss it out to you, $536 billion in tax increases, touching nearly all americans, because of various federal tax cuts and breaks, that expire at year's end and $110 billion in spending cuts, divided equally between the military and other federal departments, what if they miss
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the deadline? can the cuts and hikes be retroactively repealed in a deal is reached later? >> this is really important for people to understand. is that, i'm not one who believes if we go off the cliff, this is suddenly going to create immediately precipitous and calamitous event, the reality is irs and treasury can drag out the implementation and a new congress will be sworn in with new representatives in the house and the senate and, you will have the situation with the law of the land being the higher tax rates and republicans will be voting to cut taxes regardless of the negotiated number and will be sequestering and, cutting our spending significantly under sequestration and so frankly from the position of leverage the president probably has a weaker hand in the beginning of the year but the truth is we have a couple of weeks to get it fixed between january 1st and probably january 15, 17th, before these things become ingrained in the process and people start seeing their paychecks. >> heather: tim, what about that? automatic spending cuts, were
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created as a last-ditch efforts, to force congress to deal with the debt problem and in theory, congress and president obama could say no to the fiscal cliff by extending all the tax cuts an overturning the automatic spending reductions incurrent law. what about that scenario? >> i think that is right. and frankly is probably what they'll do. look at the timeframe congress has left, i think, at the beginning, you said, it is nine or ten days and it is really four by the time they get back on the 27th and keep in mind when they come back they have four days to write -- come up with a deal and write the legislation and get it scored and there's a lot to do in four days and it is unlikely they'll get a deal done. so what they'll do is kick the can down the road at least a month and that is likely once they get back on the 27th. >> heather: like my late christmas shopping, everyone has a gift card for a sweater. thanks... >> hopefully not a tax increase. >> heather: thank you very much.
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>> thank you. >> all right. >> gregg: a great example of american ingenuity. a company that relies on summertime to make money is actually finding a new way to stay in business in the wintertime delivering christmas trees to your home and get this: the company is doing it for the environment. in part. elizabeth prann is live with more. tell us about the tree elves. can you call them this. >> reporter: we can, they are giving families one less thing to worry about this holiday season, these brothers are known as the kick of pop in the smerp months and sell popular frozen popcicles across atlanta and this southeast end and, now are delivering small, medium or large trees with or without lights and after that pick up the tree and donate them to parks, schools and churches and if you want to you can keep it. customers say it has been a weight lifted off their shoulders during the holiday season and it is eco-friendly,
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too. >> makes us feel good to support a local business such as the tree elves. rather than go and cut one down or go to home depot and purchase one like we have done in the past. we legislative the idea of supporting tree elves be a supporting king of pops, which we're a big fan of, getting a tree that is sustainable and will be replanted. >> reporter: they have 200 trees and sold out almost immediately and next year will have more trees and more varieties. >> gregg: these guys are small business owners who are, you know, usually pretty busy during the summertime, right? >> reporter: yes, we meet these small business owners, two years ago, steven and nick carr and steven was laid off from aig and decided to approach his brother and they sold fresh popcicles in a atlanta and went from one to dozens of carts and have 30 employees and their one business flaw, they are not popular
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during the winter. listen: >> this is kind of like the next step, to keep us busy december and january and do something positive for the community. >> reporter: one small benefit you get, they have winter flavored popcicles, egg nog or gingerbread and they deliver those to your door, if you do decide to get a christmas tree. >> gregg: sounds -- i'd love to have an egg nog pop sickle. that sounds good. i remember when you did that story. and i was about to ask you that, aren't these the guys you told us a >> reporter: the story went viral and their sales last we're went over a million dollars. >> gregg: good for them for launching a new business. elizabeth prann thanks and merry christmas. >> reporter: thanks, merry christmas. >> heather: i like the elves ears on their hats. you might be getting that for christmas. coming up, a scathing new report on the september 11th terror attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, raising serious new
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concerns about the state department. but, what about secretary of state hillary clinton? does she bear any responsibility, judge jeanine pirro weighs in. >> gregg: the federal government releasing a report card on the nation's health. where does your state rank, whose at t-- who's at the top, s at the bottom, and why. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it... in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do.
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>> gregg: the federal government releasing its report card on the nation's health and fewer of us are smoking than ever before. that is the moderately good news, since more than 1/5 of us, still lighting up. >> heather: more than 1/4 of us get virtually no exercise. so, that remains a major concern. which states are the healthiest, according to the new state by state survey, vermont tops the list, followed by hawaii, new hampshire, massachusetts and minnesota, new york state
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ranking 18th and louisiana and mississippi, are tied, way down there, 49th. >> gregg: dr. mitchell brooks, the host of "health of a nation" and joins us live from dallas, texas. doctor, thanks for being with us. are you surprised by this or not. >> no, not at all. >> gregg: why? >> well, the states that are on the top are states that educate their young people, states that have taken the issue of obesity and exercise very seriously. the states on the bottom tend to be poorer states but that is not mutually exclusive because you have states like oklahoma and alabama, who have actually moved up in the rankings. so the issue is one of education. accessibility to the better foods, supermarkets coming into neighborhoods. for instance, in certain neighborhoods, there's really a lack of green groceries and mrs. obama has shed a lot of light on that subject, to our
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credit. and i think that was we go along and we come to understand these are very expensive issues, i mean, obesity costs us $190 billion a year. that is an incredible amount of money, and the other way to look at it is, we use about 1.1 billion gallons, extra of gas lane, owing to obesity. 1% of the gasoline we use is related to obesity. >> heather: it is just not mon taylor, that it is costing. it also costs us in lost time and also lost productivity. >> exactly. but the real problem with obesity is childhood obesity. and we have children, we are seeing children now that have type-2 diabetes at age 9 and 10. we've never seen that in those numbers before. the issues of obesity, even go to the kinds of ambulances that we have. we have the larger ambulances today because of the size of people. the front winches are to use for owe beat people and when i was a
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resident seeing someone who was 400 pounds and tying two operating room tables together to get them on the tables was very rare and now, most operating room tables have capacities upwards of 5, 600 pounds. and it's a real problem, anyone on a plane next to someone who is overweight knows you are not paying for a seat. you are paying for half a seat. >> gregg: life expectancy, men versus women and we'll put it up on the screen, u.s. male, life expectancy, 76 years on par with chill chile, cuba and slovenia. and women, it is higher. why the difference, doctor? >> women are protected by their estrogen from heart disease a longer period than men and women have less stress than men and women take problems in a different manner than men and es
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str is important in, as a cause of heart disease, and, other diseases in life. so, i think there are multi-factors involved. >> heather: and, doctor, speaking of those factors, does it boil down to personal responsibility? >> absolutely. it really does. with the cost of health care, going completely out of control, this is something that we can control, so you are talking about over $500 billion that is controllable and is relate to what you put into your mouth. there is certainly obesity that cannot be controlled but that is not usual. so, as it affects the -- the cost of health care, add on national debt and national security, it is a real problem. >> gregg: all right, dr. mitchell brooks, thanks for being with us. appreciate it. >> you're welcome and merry christmas to the both of you. >> gregg: you, too. >> heather: you, too. >> gregg: heads of the state department are rolling after a
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scathing report on the benghazi terrorist attack, but what responsibility if any at all, does secretary of state hillary clinton have in all of this? judge jeanine pirro is here to talk to us. >> heather: plus taxes proofivia hurdle in the fiscal cliff, haggling over which to keep and which to cut. americans say what they think of taxes and brand new rasmussen polls. clear, huh? i'm not juice or fancy water. i've gotine grams of protein. that's three times more than me! [ female announcer ] ensure clear. nine grams protein. zero fat. in blueberry/pomegranate and peach.
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>> gregg: an independent accountability review board releasing a blistering new report, on the september 11th terror attack in our consulate in benghazi, citing systemic failures in leadership and management deficiency at senior levels at the department of state and leading to the resignations of four state department officials. what about secretary of state
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hillary clinton? she's recovering from a concussion due to a fall, from a stomach virus, which was nasty and had to postpone her testimony on capitol hill, about what she knows about the deadly benghazi assault. in the meantime, according to a fox news poll, 59% of americans approve of her job performance an 29% disapprove and judge jeanine pirro is the host of justice with judge jeannine, polling data suggests at least so far on this issue of benghazi, the buck may stop with her, as she said. but she's teflon. >> you know what is interesting, gregg, since the mainstream media has not kovrd covered this issue, i'm not surprised the numbers are as good as they amost of the mainstream media has not told the american public what is going on and you get your news from them you will not know. this is what i love about this. you have her commissioning the accountability review board and it gives you the ability, last month, to say i can't talk about
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this, because -- >> gregg: under investigation. >> there's this investigation going on and two weeks ago it was the flu and last week the concussion, and, you know, which we never heard about, except we know she's working from home and, so, it is all kind of questionable. >> gregg: did he make it up. >> i have no idea but i know from september 12th, she has not really discussed it other than to say they'll arrest the people who did the video which is the only guy arrested so far and -- >> gregg: four mid-level employees are singled out for nonfeasance or misfeasance and if i dug into it, i'd find malfeasance. she cannot be responsible for all of the employees of the state department. >> if i was d.a., would i dare say, if one of my d.a.s messed up, it's not my fault. if you take the blame, take the blame but the most shocking part
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of all of this. this report is stunning, ineptitude and incompetence and mismanagement and lack of leadership, it is all there, and i'll talk about it tonight on my show, we're going to break it down, where even the report is double speak. you can't understand what they are saying. >> gregg: and doesn't get down to a really important question, which is, when they were under attack for 7 long, agonizing... they did not get help, rescue, intervention? and you can get an f-18 there in a half-hour and, three times refused. the question is who refused it. petraeus says he didn't refuse it. there is only within person higher up than him. >> and you don't have to go there. there is only one person who could have approved it. the president and he -- >> gregg: fox news poll, should the presidents have ordered troops to benghazi to help
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americans at the consulate. look at that -- the wrong one, 65% say yes. >> of course. >> gregg: 24% say no and his approval ratings are still fairly high and look at the next one, put up the other one there. 48%, think there was a cover-up. wow. >> 42% say no. i go back to the fact, nobody really knows about a lot of this stuff and that's the problem. more interesting than anything, greg, the fact that i really believe nothing will happen as a result of this. people will take responsibility and this accountability review report will be filed with the -- tanzania and kenya, the recommendation were not implemented. >> gregg: tonight you have one of the smaaround, michael mukasey. >> and we'll talk to him about the liability issue, if there was grossly inadequate security what does it mean? do the families have a lawsuit?
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>> gregg: judge jeanine pirro, catch her show tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern time here on the fox news channel. a pretty picture there. >> i don't like the hair but... >> gregg: looks great to me. >> heather: oh, the christmas spirit. the gun control debate, front and center in the wake of the newtown, connecticut tragedy. where do americans stand on a possible assault weapons ban? scott rasmussen joins us with the new poll, that is up next. m is efficiently absorbed in small continuous amounts. citracal slow release continuously releases calcium plus d with efficient absorption in one daily dose. citracal slow release. with efficient absorption in one daily dose. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable,
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>> gregg: welcome back, lawmakers head home for the holidays, after failing to reach a deal, just ten days until america goes over the so-called fiscal cliff. >> heather: a new poll shows many americans may be just as stumped as they are, especially, when it comes to dealing with taxes. americans nearly split down the middle and a new poll from rasmussen reports, suggesting 46% of americans think the u.s. is overtaxed, while 42% says it is not. here now, scott rasmussen of rasmussen reports.com and sounds a lot like what is happenings in d.c., right, scott? >> there is a lot of that and the number who say the nation is overtaxed fell from 66%, in
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2010, to 56% earlier to year to 46% now, the biggest reason is because in 2010, it was all about taxes and spending. right now, the president has succeeded in making this a debate about fairness and most americans, about 6 out of ten, want to see taxes go up on upper income americans. >> gregg: of course, what is it, 48% of people don't pay any federal income tax. but, look, scott, this tax pledge, that a lot of members of congress signed onto, and, grover norquist's tax pledge. >> grover's pledge is -- blaming washington for being one of the problems for reaching a deal and voters are split done the middle on this but the reason the pledge has power, republican voters whose congressman has taken a pledge by 3-1 margin want their congressman to honor the pledge. and, so, we heard a lot the other night on plan b and couldn't get the support and republicans were worried about primary challenges, republican
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voters would have been receptive to a challenge for anyone voting to increase taxes. >> heather: another topic on capitol hill, was of course gun laws, this time, last week, i think we were all still in shock, and still are, really, following the shooting that happened at sandy hook, elementary, a week ago-friday, 26 people shot and killed. how far do these laws need to go or should go, according to the americans that you polled? >> you first have to understand, people when they are recovering from this, they are feeling terrible for the families involved and want something done. most voters, 55%, do want to see a ban on assault weapons. they are not convinced that we'll solve the problem at all but, at least, it is a first step and also, by the way, want to see stricter steps taken with people who were diagnosed with mental illnesses and want to see something done about violence in movies and video games, right now, public opinion says something has to be done, all of our hearts say we never want to
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hear about this again. >> gregg: absolutely, there are a great many nations in the world who don't have the 2nd amendment or equivalent and restrict the possession and ownership and use of firearms to police and the military. how do folks in america feel about that notion? >> that doesn't fit well in the u.s. at all. only one out of four people believe it will be good if only government officials like police and military officials could have guns, it is just 6 out of 10 say no, this is part of what it is like to be in america and i have -- all of these issues, there is a big split between people who live in the cities and people who live in rural areas. >> heather: and i found the next question you asked interesting. people as they live in a neighborhood where homeowners are allowed to own a gun or where homeowners are not allowed to have a gun, which neighborhood would they feel safer in. >> 62% said they prefer a neighborhood, basically where they could have a gun to protect
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themselves. that is their preference. not everybody feels that way. but, that is the strong majority opinion in the united states today. >> gregg: let's move to a lighter note. we're just a handsful of days away from christmas. is it a time of stress or time of joy. >> this is something else people are split done the middle on and the reason four out of ten americans are considering this stressful, as of last night's poll, 42% of americans had not yet finished their holiday shopping. >> 20% hadn't gotten started yet. it will be a busy weekend. and, that is part of the reason, too, a lot of americans think that holiday shopping is a chore. those who tend to click and ship are less stressed than those who buy at the mall. >> gregg: you don't wait until the last minute, you aren't one of those guys, are you? >> i've got most of it done,
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gregg. >> gregg: listen, if we don't see you between now and them, happy holidays, merry christmas. >> merry christmas, gregg, heather, have a great holiday. >> you, too, that does it for us, rick folbaum and jamie colby are next. >> gregg: beautiful lights outside fox news. bye-bye. paefpaef you're, like, eight!" [ male announcer ] for every 2 pounds you lose through diet and exercise alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. simple. effective. advantage: mom. let's fight fat with alli. have a healthier holiday at letsfightholidayfat.com.
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